Shreyas Iyer has an excellent IPL 2205 with 604 runs and strike rate of 175.07 with six fifties.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has asked the selectors what more Shreyas Iyer needs to do to be included in India’s T20I squad. This came after Iyer was left out of the Men in Blue 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2025 tournament.
Shreyas Iyer made his India comeback in 2025 in the limited-overs series against England. He was part of India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 winning squad as well.
More importantly, Iyer captained Punjab Kings to the final of the IPL 2025 and top-scored with 604 runs for them with a strike rate of 175 plus. Therefore, Iyer's being ignored for India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025 came as a huge shock for many former India cricketers and experts.
“Shreyas Iyer not being there is a big story. What more will Shreyas Iyer have to do? What more can you do than what you have already done? You had a 600-plus-run IPL season, took the team to the final, scored runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, played Ranji, and won the Champions Trophy. That’s all you can do as a human being,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“This is the Asia Cup team. Don’t associate the World Cup with it because there are 15 T20Is after this. The world changes in 15 T20Is. If he keeps scoring runs in ODIs, sooner or later, Shreyas Iyer will be part of the team. I have a strong feeling that Shreyas Iyer will be a part of India’s T20 World Cup team,” he added.
Shreyas Iyer was not named as one of the five reserve players, with Prasidh Krishna, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel being named as backup.
“Shreyas’ name is not even there in the five reserves, and that is surprising. It’s understandable that you couldn’t have him in the 15, as you can’t play him in the XI, and you wanted lower-order batters as backup, where Shivam Dube is there, and Rinku Singh will be given another chance, which is absolutely par for the course,” he said.
“However, a place could have been created in the reserve players at least, where you have kept Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Prasidh Krishna. This player’s name could have been there. You haven’t kept it there either, and that doesn’t send a great signal. The clarity in front of Shreyas’ name is completely not there,” Chopra observed.
Shreyas Iyer has a good record with 1104 runs in 51 T20Is with eight fifties and a best score of 74*. He has a strike rate of 136.12. His last T20I for India came against Australia in 2023.